In April 2014, Hidden Worlds announced a campaign to fund Goodnight Lad, an
interactive reading experience that involves a book and a special app that
animates the characters from the pages.

The time was not right, however, and they were not successful.

But with VR now becoming a much more popular topic, they relaunched at the
beginning of February 2015, and managed to attain funding within 47 hours.
While the team initially sought $5,000, they’ve since acquired more than $28,000,
with 8 days left to go.

By utilizing historic video footage and audio from NASA, they’ve recreated what
it was like to fly in the Saturn V rocket in July 1969, and plan to incorporate
narration, facts and the entire mission from launch to splashdown in an
educational experience.

A team of Mechanical Engineering students from the University of Maine is raising
funds to construct an open-source virtual reality motion platform.

A device such as this allows the VR user to become more immersed in the world
that they’re exploring. The example the crew provides is that of a driving
simulator. With the addition of a platform, instead of feeling like one is
simply sitting in a chair, the experience becomes more realistic and emulates
that of an actual vehicle. If successful, they plan on publicizing their work
so that others can build their own platforms.

With 11 days left to go, the project has raised $3,119, and is seeking $4,500.

I AM Cardboard, a Hong Kong, China, company initially sought $20,000 for their
VR headset, and have gone on to raise more than $84,000, with 36 hours to go.

After first designing a simple cardboard product, the tech team decided to
invent a more complex, sturdy device for users.

Like the M8D, this headset is meant for smartphones to be integrated,
however it is not collapsible and consists of a larger product.

Virtual Reality has clearly made its crowdfunding mark, and this is
only the beginning of the year. It’s apparent that 2015 is the break-out moment
for the technology. What will be next? What entertainment-related innovations will appear? And will TV metadata power any VR applications?